“Research shows that there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school.” – Bill Gates

Whether you’re teaching in a school or working for yourself, being a Latin teacher is a rewarding job, and not just because of the wage. Latin teachers are passionate about transferring their knowledge of the language to students.

Being a school teacher is a rewarding vocation and the base salary isn’t bad. The average salaries are pretty good in comparison to a lot of jobs and the annual mean wage is pretty good. Teachers in the UK have one of the highest average salaries in the world.

Of course, secondary school teachers work an average of 63.3 hours per week.

So with this in mind, how much does a Latin teacher earn and what is an average teacher salary?

Depending on your experience, seniority, or qualifications, here’s how much you can get expect to earn in Latin teacher jobs.

The Salary for a Latin Teacher at Secondary Schools

Firstly, before we get to the crux of the matter, you should know that there aren’t many Latin teachers in primary schools. Most Latin teachers teach in private secondary schools, independent schools, and academies. Additionally, a teacher salary in private schools is usually higher than in state schools.

Teachers in secondary schools are paid by their subject, location, and seniority. (Source: Pexels)

Latin lessons are quite rare in normal state schools. As a general rule, a Latin teacher is a language or classics teacher with a degree in Latin and a PGCE.

Working out how much a Latin teacher earns can be quite tricky because it’s rare that Latin will be the only thing they teach. Whether they’re in academies or state secondary schools, several things could affect their earnings.

Teachers start on £23k but how much they earn will depend on how long they’ve taught, where they’re teaching, and what they’re teaching. Teacher salaries can also be affected by the teacher’s role. For example, there are a good number of other tasks that teachers can add to their remit to earn more money:

You can set a Special Educational Needs (SEN) allowance of between £2,149 and £4,242 a year.

Teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments of between £2,721 and £13,288 if you take on additional responsibility.

They can also earn more money by marking exams.

While there are a lot of different things that can affect a teacher’s salary, the best thing about the job is the stability of being a teacher. This is thanks to public education.

Of course, when it comes to teaching jobs, your salary will be depending on your teaching experience and where the teaching position is. After all, the starting salary for a teacher in London isn’t the same for those working outside of the capital. Similarly, teaching abroad won’t pay the same as teaching in the UK as the average starting salary in some countries is higher and lower in others. New teachers will need to take this into account.

A Latin Teacher’s Salary

As you’ll have gathered, there are a lot of ways to increase your salary as a Latin teacher. Teachers are rewarded for the work they do and if they exhibit the very highest standards of classroom practice they can gain leading practitioner status.

This means a teacher can earn between £40k and £68k.

By taking on more responsibilities, Latin teachers can bolster their earnings. (Source: rawpixel)

It should be said that there are so many factors that will affect a teacher’s earnings that it’s almost impossible to tell you exactly how much you’ll earn but we can give you a rough idea. Generally, as a teacher, you can work more to earn more and salary data indicates that teacher pay is pretty good anyway.

The minimum salary for teachers mightn’t be the highest but there are a lot of ways to progress and, as we mentioned, average teacher salaries in the UK are very high in comparison to other countries.

The Salary for New Latin Teachers

Becoming a teacher is a great idea. However, as a new teacher, your salary mightn’t be as big as you’d hoped. As we’ve mentioned, the more you work, the more you can earn.

An unqualified teacher can start on as little as £17k but once qualified, they can expect to start on at least £23k. That said, an unqualified teacher can earn as much as £27k when they start their new career.

Furthermore, there’s always the teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments you can earn.

Maximum: £13,288.

Minimum: £2,721.

Similarly, there are bonus payments available for teachers who work with pupils with special educational needs (SEN). You can earn between £2,149 and £4,242. Thus, a special education teacher has a higher average salary than other teachers.

There are a lot of ways to increase your salary as a teacher and a lot of interesting ways to vary your remit as a teacher. While being a teacher mightn’t be the best-paid job in the world, you’ll have better job security and a decent pension to boot.

As you can see, there’s quite a difference between the lowest salaries and the highest. You could be coming home with a salary that isn’t much higher than minimum wage or a six-figure salary!

Teaching Latin in a University

If you’ve completed a degree, master’s, and PhD, you could always teach Latin as a lecturer at a university. Generally, a university lecturer will earn more than a school teacher.

A Latin lecturer at university can earn more than a secondary school Latin teacher. (Source: StartupStockPhotos)

They tend to earn between £41k and £55k. However, they can earn upwards of £107k at the highest level. It should be noted that these jobs, like all teaching jobs, are no walk in the park.

If you’re looking for the best paying teaching job, you’ll probably want to be a teacher at a university. Generally speaking, the higher the level you teach, the more you’ll earn.

For example, primary school teachers won’t earn as much as high school teachers and, in turn, they won’t earn as much as those teaching undergraduate or postgraduate degrees, for example.

If you’re a high school teacher in a private school, you’ll probably be on a higher wage than someone working in a state school.

How Much Do Private Latin Tutors Earn?

“Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” – Solomon Ortiz

If you don’t want to become a teacher in a school or university, you could always work for yourself and find your students. After all, the national school system isn’t for everyone, even if teachers’ salaries in the UK are pretty good.

The more a private tutor teaches, the more they can earn. (Source: PublicDomainPictures)

As a private Latin tutor, you won’t have the job security of a teacher in a school but you’ll also have a lot more freedom in terms of how you teach and what you teach.

If you head to Superprof, for example, you can offer face-to-face tutorials, online tutorials, or group tutorials to enthusiastic students wanting to learn a new language. You’ll also be able to decide upon your rates. However, you do have to think about what the competition is charging. Even as a Latin tutor, there’s a lot of competition out there.

You need to be very sensible when it comes to setting your rates and they need to line up with your experience, qualifications, and reputation as a tutor. On average, tutors charge between £20 and £60 per hour for Latin tutorials but this will also vary according to where you teach. Due to the cost of living, tutorials in London tend to cost more than elsewhere in the UK.

If you work 25 hours a week (not including preparation time), you could earn between £500 and £1,500 a week. Do everything you can to make your lessons appealing. When it comes to private tutor jobs, there is no maximum salary since you can earn as much as your students are willing to pay for your work. If you want a salary increase, you need to make sure your tutorials are worth it!

The salary range for private tutors is much wider, too. Your wage will depend on your level of education, skills, etc.

You could also work in a language school. That said, it can be difficult working out the average annual wage for teachers n private language schools and academies as they’ll be paid according to where they are, what their experience is, the levels they teach, and the number of teaching hours they have.

Language teaching, especially for private tutors, can be tricky. Especially as the popularity of language tuition tends to vary a lot. When a language is popular, you can expect higher salaries or weekly earnings as a private tutor but once a language is no longer popular, you might struggle to make ends meet.

Whether you’re teaching English in China, Latin in a private school, or looking for teaching positions at a university, the highest paid jobs are for the best teachers. That said, most teachers aren’t in it for the money, but rather because of their passion to help students learn skills that will help them in their future lives and careers.

If you need help with your lesson plans or brushing up on your Latin, you might want to consider getting in touch with a private tutor. After all, the better you are as a teacher, the higher your annual salary will be. Of course, everyone starts on the same base salary and can work their way up in state schools.

However, keep in mind that while starting salaries are better in certain places, your decision can’t be based on salary alone, you need to be working somewhere you like!

So are you ready to start your teaching career and take advantage of lucrative teaching opportunities?

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Joseph

Joseph is a French and Spanish to English translator, language enthusiast, and blogger.